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For parents, the decision to provide a mobile device comes with uncertainty, but certainly is the going trend. Kids can (theoretically) be reached at all times. Mobile devices help keep youth busy. They provide instantaneous information and an unrivalled breadth of experiences.

Yet, amidst the promise of a new age, the decades-long experiment of youth and their mobile devices is failing. Promises of mobile technology and youth are giving way to a landslide of problems. Here are a few:

The great sleep recession: Sleep affects almost every area of physical and psychological functioning. 85% percent of teens sleep with mobile devices by their side. They are afraid to miss a 2 a.m. text. What they are really missing is an opportunity for a good night’s sleep.

Sexting: Sexting didn’t exist until mobile devices became available. Now teens are using apps that can’t even be tracked to send racy photos at alarming rates. If the photos weren’t enough, youth who engage in sexting are 4-7 times more likely to engage in sexual behaviors, be promiscuous earlier, and physically mature at a younger age.

Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is another issue that didn’t become prominent until mobile devices entered the youth world. Bullying and teasing have always been an issue. But now the number and breadth of ways that a youth can be bullied has expanded infinitely, and both the bully and the bullied remain affected as long as a digital trace endures.

Distractions galore: The average adolescent female sends more than 4,000 texts per month. That’s approximately 8 texts per waking hour. And it’s not even her day job (school). Question: “Where do they find the time?” Answer: “In the middle of everything else.”

Pornography: The average male first views pornography by age 11, mostly online. By the time they are young adults, they access it on average 50 times a week. Any wonder that pornography profit out grosses NBC, ABC, and CBS combined? Mobile devices make it all too easy.

Social Skills Declining: Eye contact, gestures, and basic interactive skills have long been the basis of relationships. But increasing evidence indicates that even the most core skills are being affected by mobile devices. Try having a conversation with someone who seems only half there; then imagine this was the norm. No wonder young people are flocking to the digital world.

Brain Development: This one goes deep into the neurons and the glial cells to areas of functioning that affect all the previously mentioned domains. Nothing looms more important to our youth than the development of skills such as emotional regulation, impulse control, sustained attention, and “if…then” consequential thinking. They only have a little over 20 years to develop these skills before the brain reaches its maturation; mobile devices are not helping.

The writing on the wall keeps getting bigger and bolder even as the rocky marriage of youth and mobile technology continues. Even for those who are not swayed by the concerns noted above, they must make you wonder. If it weren’t for the trends and the desire to be able to reach children at all times, would this marriage make any sense? Trends can change if we as parents desire. It seems time we put the mobile device-youth experiment to rest, and look at better options to meet our needs and theirs.